Reuters HOUSTON – Exxon Mobil Corp on Thursday rejected a contract offer from the United Steelworkers union (USW), two days ahead of a threatened lockout of 650 Texas refinery workers by the energy firm, said people familiar with the matter. Talks between the two sides, at the 369,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont refinery, have been underway since before a six-year contract
Reuters WASHINGTON – The Biden administration wants to spend $174 billion to boost electric vehicles and charging stations but its 2030 climate emissions reduction pledge released on Thursday does not include a firm date to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles. “These autos are coming. We know it. It is the future,” White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy said of EVs at
Reuters U.S. refiner Valero Energy Corp on Thursday warned that its first-quarter loss would exceed the previous three months, joining the ranks of energy firms hit hard by the severe winter storm in Texas in February. The cold wave in U.S. central and southern states has disrupted power and gas supply and knocked refineries, oil production and chemical plants out
Reuters LONDON- Gasoline demand may never recover to pre-pandemic levels, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, with increased use in developing countries offset by rising fuel efficiency and a switch to electric vehicles in wealthy nations. In last year’s five-year outlook before the COVID-19 pandemic’s full force was felt in Western countries, the IEA said that gasoline demand
Reuters LONDON/NEW YORK/SINGAPORE – With oil prices surging as producers curb supply, fuel prices in many countries have hit multi-year and even all-time highs despite the pandemic knocking demand by millions of barrels per day. The high prices at the pump could hamper a slow and fragile economic recovery as they contribute to inflation and strip consumers of cash to
Reuters LONDON/NEW YORK – U.S. refiners are scaling back on hiring ships for longer periods to save on costs in another sign of uncertainty over when global oil demand will return to pre-COVID levels, shipping and trade sources say. The global rollout of coronavirus vaccines and the expectation that government-offered stimulus packages will boost the world economy has raised expectations
Reuters LONDON – Global refineries will increase crude processing sharply over the next six months to stabilise stocks of fuels such as gasoline and diesel – even if substantial coronavirus controls remain on travel and service sector businesses. The prospective rise in processing and consequent draw down in crude inventories in the second and especially third quarters is what has
Reuters HOUSTON – Royal Dutch Shell Plc pushed back the restart of its 318,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery to March 13, said sources familiar with plant operations on Monday. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith declined comment. Shell had planned to restart the 270,000-bpd DU-2 crude distillation unit (CDU), the largest at the refinery, by early this week, the
Reuters U.S. crude oil production dropped by more than 1 million barrels per day last week during Texas’s deep freeze, equalling the largest weekly fall ever, and refining runs tumbled to levels not seen since 2008, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Overall output fell by 1.1 million bpd to 9.7 million bpd in the week to Feb. 19,
Reuters NEW YORK/HOUSTON – U.S. oil refiners are predicting a strong recovery in fuel demand in the second half of this year as vaccination rates increase and workers are expected to resume commuting and taking vacations. But oil processors appear to be skimping on routine spring overhauls that typically prepare refineries for peak summer output. Maintenance cutbacks could make it
Reuters Private equity firm Cresta Fund Management has offered to buy a majority stake in North Atlantic Refining Ltd (NARL), owner of the idled Canadian 135,000 barrel-per-day Come-by-Chance refinery, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters. The Dallas-based firm said in a letter dated Jan. 22 it would look to convert the refinery to renewable fuel production. The Newfoundland refinery
Reuters Following a year of grim losses amid pandemic lockdowns that dented demand for fuel as people stuck close to home, the largest U.S. independent refiners are promoting plans to boost production of renewable fuels. Renewable fuels represent a silver lining for refiners under threat of being left behind by the shift to electric vehicles and away from fossil fuel
